


Inconspicuous Bad Apples

by Seung



Category: B.A.P, Beautiful Liar - VIXX LR (Music Video), GOT7, Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band), VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Co-workers, Corruption, Divorce, Drinking, Drug Use, F/M, Fanfiction, Gun Violence, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Platonic Romance, Police, Prostitution, Recreational Drug Use, Serial Killers, Smoking, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22400878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seung/pseuds/Seung
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Bang Yongguk, Bae Joohyun | Irene/Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Bang Yongguk/Original Female Character(s), Bang Yongguk/Reader, Bang Yongguk/You, Cha Hakyeon | N/Reader, Jung Taekwoon | Leo/Original Female Character(s), Jung Taekwoon | Leo/Reader, Park Jinyoung (GOT7)/Original Female Character(s), Park Jinyoung (GOT7)/Reader, Park Jinyoung (GOT7)/You





	1. Chapter 1

The parking lot is mostly empty, only a few cars here and there. Different from the day you came to look at the apartment you’d be living from now on with your daughter. It could be that most of the families are out and you looked carefully at everything around the place and you know for a fact that’s a safe place to be, mostly families live in the building. Most of them leave in the morning for work like you’d if you didn’t have the day off to move in.Starting a new life. You take the boxes out of the truck before unbuckling your daughter from her seat.

“I can get out alone, mom”, she protests, struggling against your hold.

“Minjoo, don’t be stubborn”, she pouts, but lets you help her get out of the car, “Good girl!”

You smile, but she’s still pouting and you know she’ll be up to something anytime. You’ll deal with that when it happens, for now, you focus on locking the car safely and balancing the heavy boxes. While still keeping a hold on the little mischievous girl beside you.

“Minjoo, can you help mom?” She glances up at you interested in doing something by herself.

“What, mom?”

“Can you hold this for me? And Dodo too.”

She smiles widely as you give her a plastic bag with a half empty bottle of water and some snacks you bought earlier. You give her Dodo too, her favorite toy as well and that’s enough to make her happy, gladly holding everything as if it’s of ultimate importance..

You try your best to balance the heavy boxes while guiding Minjoo the rows of cars in the underground garage until the two of you stop in front of the elevator’s door and she tiptoes to press the button, offering you a wide, proud smile afterwards. You smile back at her and pat her head.

“Thank you!”

As soon as the doors open you urge her to go in first before you step in and presses the button to the floor you’re heading to and the doors close.

“Are you hungry?” She nods, “How’d you like a pizza for dinner today?”

“Really?” She asks excitedly, jumping in place, not minding for being inside an elevator. You try your best to hold her still when she starts jumping, “Is daddy coming here too? Can I call him now?”

“Honey.” You start carefully, “Dad is not coming today.”

“When is dad coming?” She asks, looking up at you with her head tilted to the side. With her wondering eyes that makes your heart ache, “Dad likes pizza too, mommy.”

“I know, baby” You say complacently and forces a smile, “You can have pizza when you see him, then”

“When?”

“He’ll come to see you soon”

“No!” She stomps her foot, “I want to go home and eat pizza with daddy!”

You can feel the frustration building up, you can see Minjoo’s about to cry. But before anything could start the elevator doors open and you have to hold her back in case she decided to get off since this is not where you’re going.

“Good morning.” The guy walking in greets you politely.

“Good morning.” You greet him back.

He seems to be in his college years, wearing a simple black-and-write striped long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark over worn jeans pants. He reaches for the panel to press a floor’s button, but stops midway, pressing the button to close the door instead before standing quietly in his place. He shrugs his backpack on his shoulder.

You discreetly observe him, recognize him as Kwon Taekwoon, he’s your neighbor. You looked him up at work, he has a clean record. His clothes are clearly messy, loose ends hanging here and there from his black long-sleeved shirt and beaten-up denim. His dyed brown hair, parted sideways and rather messing-ly falling on his face.

“Would you like some help?” He asks, pointing at the boxes you’re carrying.

“Ah, yes, thank you. The one on the top, please”

“I’ll take this one too”, he offers. Take two of the boxes, you like the fact that you can see everything much better now.

Problem is, as soon as the doors open again, Minjoo steps out and thankfully this is where your new apartment are. Taekwoon follows shortly after.

“Cha Minjoo, don’t run!” She stops immediately and you can see Taekwoon chuckling at the little girl’s attics.

You know anyone would be amused by your daughter’s doings. The little daredevil is always looking for trouble, more than a little girl like her normally would. There’s no denying got that from you. Hakyeon is much more cautious. Distracted by her attempt to walk fast without running she lets her beloved Dodo fall from the bag she was keeping him in just before rushing past the apartment’s door. Taekwoon stops to get it for her and you sigh.

“Minjoo, be careful.” You call, “Come back!”

She looks back and starts running back to Taekwoon who’s holding her Dodo.

“How do you say it?”

“Thank you”, she says, taking the plushie from Taekwoon’s hand.

Taekwoon shakes his head holding a simple smile that fits him a little too perfectly, he reaches to pat her head affectionately.

“You’re welcome”, he replies softly, making her giggle.

“Thank you, sorry for the trouble.”

“No problem, really. I know kids tend to be excited during big changes and moving happens to be one of them”, he says as you open the door to your apartment.

The sound of the door is rather loud compared to your old home. You don’t know what you want to start comparing, everything here is much lesser than the luxury of Hakyeon’s place. Your payroll is significantly lower than his. One of the many things Minjoo would need to get used to.

You watch her rush inside with her Dodo, leaving the bag with groceries on the way. You place the boxes down. The place is a complete mess, unorganized mobilia here and there, boxes everywhere.

“Minjoo, be careful”, you warn her before turning to Taekwoon still carrying the boxes inside, “Sorry for the mess”, you say as Taekwoon walks in

“Where should I put this?”

“Just anywhere, nothing is organized yet”

Minjoo rushes back with another toy she found somewhere.

“Mom will buy pizza! Do you want pizza too?”

“I don’t think-”

“It’ll be my way to thank you”, you add before he could refuse

“Alright, then”

“I don’t have a table yet, so, I hope you don’t mind the kitchen counter instead”

“It’s okay”, he assures, “Don’t mind me.” You nodded in acknowledgment as you pulled out your phone.

Minjoo seems to have forgotten that she had her moody behavior around Taekwoon who seemed quite used to dealing with kids. and different from most kids his age, he knew how to deal with her. You normally wouldn’t let your daughter close to a stranger, your job has a side effect - being suspicious of almost everyone you don’t know. But, Taekwoon doesn’t make you be on your defensive mode.

When the pizza arrives Taekwoon helps her on her seat.

“What’d you like to drink?” You ask him after putting the pizza box on the counter, away from Minjoo just so she won’t reach for it just yet.

“Just– whatever you’re having…”

“Orange juice?”

“It’s good for me”, he replies.

“I want orange juice too, mommy!”

“Yes,” you reply with a smile, filling her cup before Taekwoon and yours.

It’s somewhere late into the afternoon when you bid him goodbye, time just seems to pass so fast with Taekwoon around, he made it easy to handle Minjoo too, although he does spoil her a bit.

“I’m sorry for taking so much of your time today”

“Don’t mention it”, he waves his hand dismissively, “Actually, I should be saying sorry for sticking around for too long”, he faces distorts a little in a shameful smile

“You helped a lot”, you smile back at him reassuringly, “Specially with Minjoo”, he hums

“My brother has a boy around her age. I tend to babysit a lot”, he explains with a shrug

“Will you come back and play again?” Your daughter asks stepping between the two of you

“Sure!”

Taekwoon walks back to his apartment after giving the little Minjoo a high-five and smoothing out her tousled hair. Problem is, after Taekwoon is gone and Minjoo is sleeping, you’re left alone with your toxic thoughts and memories. Your phone screen lights up on the sofa while you have your sleeves rolled up, opening some of the boxes. You push yourself up and see the lit up screen with your Captain’s ID showing. You frown, today should be your day off.

“Lieutenant Song”, you answer sarcastically

_ “How’re you doing?”  _ You place your hand on your hip, noticing his beating-around-the-bush tone. You hear a loud voice and a huge mess going on in the background.

“Fine”, you say without meaning,”What’s wrong?” You sit down, letting yourself rest against the sofa, reaching up one of your hands to push your hair off your neck in a loose bun.

_ “The Commander wants you here” _ , you frown, leaning forwards, with your elbows in your thighs.

“The Commander?”, you ask confused, knowing how that man dislikes you, “Why me?”

_ “How the fuck am I supposed to know?” _ You hear as a reply, more comfortable with your Captain’s impatient tone,  _ “I don’t like this either, but-” _ You know he wouldn’t finish that sentence,  _ “Have you seen the news?” _

“No, what happened?” You look for the controller, forgetting the TV is not on yet. You don’t even know where the remote is,“Alright, I’m on my way. I just have to find someone to keep an eye on Minjoo.” You say shooting up from the sofa.

_ “Y/n?” _

“Yes.” You can hear he’s walking away as the loud noises coming from the other end of the line dies down

He sighs.  _ “Nothing.” _

You’d know what he’d say, and you know he can’t see, but you nod to yourself either way.

“Okay.” You reply, “I know, Captain. I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up and you look at Minjoo, playing by herself with some of her toys. You’re still not sure how you’re gonna make this work. Your phone buzzes and you see a text message from him with the address of the place you should go.

The first person you think of is Hakyeon, you know he’s at home. You left him there, you had to go through something you don’t want to touch so soon in a few minutes. You look down at your phone, scrolling through the contacts and hesitates to pass by his name. You don’t feel emotionally ready for whatever’s waiting for you if you make this call.

You’re not even settled in your new home, you don’t want to feel more alienated to it like you are right now. You look at Minjoo again, playing quietly by herself, something that is not like her. You know how she feels, it’s… Not  _ yet  _ home, but you know it’s just a matter of time and effort. That’s all.

“Minjoo, do you want anything?”

“No”, she replies quietly while still playing

You reach for the pack of cigarettes you brought earlier along with Minjoo’s snack and walk to the balcony, leaving the curtains drawn open just so you can see her from there. You had stopped. It was bad for you, but you can’t resist it now. You lean on the balcony’s railing as you take a long drag, thinking about how the view is nothing compared to what you had before.

***

You put on the siren on the top of your car and drives as fast as you can knowing Minjoo is tightly wrapped in her chair on the backseat to reach your brother’s place that is not so close from yours. He doesn’t ask questions - you’d hear an earful from your mom if you went there instead -, you’re lucky he’s home and Minjoo is always happy to stay with her uncle. Your brother watches you drive off even faster now.

The site has people everywhere, you have to push through many curious people and the media that gathered around the place and surprisingly to reach the restricted area. You see the youngest detective in your department there and half smiles, surprised by seeing him there. He meets you as soon as you step in the perimeter and salutes you unnecessarily, like the other officer guarding the area do. You can’t avoid noticing the cold sweat streaming down his temple.

“Wonshik!”

You place your arm around his shoulders mindlessly, turning you both away from the cameras and walking into the perimeter while some officer takes his place.

“Kid, if you stand there all pale and traumatized, how do you think they’ll understand things? Huh?”

He tilts his head up to look at you surprised and shocked.

“I didn’t mean to–”, he stutters, “I didn’t think I look like that, Lieutenant Song. I swear I–”, you give him a half smile and pats his shoulder

“Don’t sweat it. But, you have to get used to it, y’know”

“Yes, sir”, you nod and walk away.

“Why’re you not helping your partner?”You look around, pulling your arm back just in time to see said person rushing to meet you, not hiding his surprise.

“Lieutenant Song?” Jinyoung approaches, confused, “What are you doing here?”, he meets you halfway and the two of you walk side by side

“Sorry to disappoint”, you say nonchalantly as the three of you walk towards the direction he just came

“Don’t get me wrong, but shouldn’t you be getting settled in the new place?”

“I can’t afford unpaid vacations”, you say mockingly, not too amused by the thought itself and he chuckles at the thought

Someone arrives and the media goes loud once again, you turn around to look at the mess when one of the officers pushes his way past the mass of people trying to corner him for answer.

“No wonder the Captain’s in hurry”, you mutter before looking back at Jinyoung, “They seem excited”

Jinyoung scoffs. “I see the Captain haven’t told you a word about it”

“About what?”

Jinyoung’s crooked smile makes you frown, you know he has a rather wicked sense of humor. You follow him to where the body still lays, but you can see the coroner approaching already in the opposite distance.

“You okay?”

You look back to see Wonshik already feeling sick while forcing himself to look at the gruesome image in front of him. He shrugs attempting to seem casual, but failing miserably.

“Seriously, you have to get used to it”, you advise, “Or I can get you behind a desk”

“No”, he replies politely, trying to get a hold of yourself, “I’m alright”, he tries an reassuring tone

“You better be, kid”, you warn him and you can see him  _ trying  _ to look at the dead body in front of him.

It’s not like you can’t understand him, but being in a department that works with dozens of gruesome cases worse than the one in front of you, he has to toughen up or leave. Unfortunately he seems like he will pass out anytime.

“Get us some coffee”

Jinyoung spoke up after a short pause, adding a push on the boy’s arm on the way back where you all just came from. Reluctantly Wonshik agreed and walked away.

“Sorry, I’ll get him to toughen up”, he speaks in an apologetic tone when Wonshik is far enough and you wave in a dismissing manner.

“Just teach him your ways”, you joke, reminiscing about Jinyoung's rookie days at the department.

The two of you were partners for a while after your Captain was transferred from narcotics and you tagged along. Old times, but dead memories and burn out stories aside, who sees this cocky and confident person Jinyoung became can’t really tell how he was at the beginning. You walk closer to the body and he follows after you with a contradicted expression.

“I wasn’t that bad back then”, he protested and you look back and find him wearing an expression that distantly remembers a pout.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,'' you scoff, “But I still remember that time when you threw up in an evidence bag after seeing guy’s guts spilled on the white tiles”, you grin, glancing back to see his disgusted expression

“Can we not talk about that? I spent a whole month without eating noodles or grilled pork skin”, you can’t help but let out a snicker before stopping near the dead body Wonshik just ran from, “Now, now… What do we have here? Another druggie?”

The causality in your voice tilts into skepticism as you pay closer attention to what’s before you. It’s definitely not a pretty sight, but it doesn’t give you any pride to say that’s not the worst you’ve seen. Most people would rather look away, just like Wonshik, instead of sighing tiredly as your eyes scan the body for injuries, their differences, their meaning.

The ghost of a beautiful woman in her early-twenties is something you can see in this trashed, dirty corpse covered in nasty injuries. However, as the Lieutenant of the Department of Violent Crimes you’re more interested in the ugliness painted on the beauty, knowing fairly well that’s what is going to give you what you need to solve the case.

***

It’s really late that night when you bring your sleeping daughter back home, you place her in her bed and take some time to watch her sleep peacefully surrounded by her favorite toys. You caresses her hair, watching her breathing evenly, taking your time to admire and enjoy this moment as much as you can after seeing gruesome scenarios the whole day.

When you leave Minjoo’s room, you’re still wide awake, so you reach for another cigarette in your backpack, you didn’t take it to the station today as you normally do. You still don’t know what you're gonna do when you have to stay there overnight, your brother has his own life. Luckily you already found a daycare. When you reach the balcony, you look at the clear sky dotted with stars here and there around the bright moon until you look down and try to abstract yourself from your phone buzzing on the balcony’s table. You glance down at your watch, it reads ten past eight in the evening. He’s dressed in different clothes, but shows a favouritism for the same fashion you saw him wearing earlier.

Your phone stops ringing and you look at it, holding your cigarette between your first and middle finger, letting the ashes be burned and blown away.


	2. Where The End Begins

>

“Okay, Lieutenant. We got it.”,Jinyoung approaches you as you stand beside the autopsy table, you take a folder from his hand and he stops next to you, “Not to rain on your parade, but the girl is… I mean was– the daughter of Daeun Trading Corporation’s CEO”, Jinyoung sounds amused and you sigh, looking up at him disappointed, “Her name is Kim Da Eun”  


“Of course she was”, you droned, earning a chuckle from Jinyoung.

You take a quick look at the files inside before looking at the girl again, squinting your eyes just the slightest to concentrate at the sight before you. Jinyoung’s focuses on his notes for a moment, oblivious to your antics.

“Something wrong”, you speculate, loud enough to get Jinyoung looking up at you with one raise eyebrow.

“Wh-What? Lieutenant–”, he faltered, letting his hands fall beside his body.

“Just a feeling. An instinct–”, you mutter vaguely, offering him a shrug.

Jinyoung breathes out tiredly.

“Lieutenant…”, he starts, “I used to think only I hated when you said things like this, but I’ve noticed it’s a unanimous feeling. People hate when you say something about this instinct of yours, it’s scary!”

“Me included”, you reply vaguely, adding a strangled sigh as you try to put the pieces together, making sure you’re not missing anything, “What do we have so far?”

Jinyoung dutifully walks you through the information gathered, the doctor adds more facts.. It feels like a promising day, alright.

**⁎** **⁎** **⁎**

You look up when someone knocks on your table.

“We’re going out for lunch”, your Captain announces, walking around your table to take a better look at the files you have scattered before you, “Obsessive as always”

Although his words are a reprimand you can hear the compliment undertone he applies to them. He shifted his weight on his feet, taking a closer look at the files you have on your table.

“What are those?”

You slide one of the file to him and leans back on your seat, massaging your closed eyelids.

“Someone I know owned me a favor”, you confess while opening your eyes.

You see him flipping the file to look at the department’s name, not minding his troubled and rather upset expression, you show him the photos and your Captain snaps his eyes to look at you, inspecualting.

“This case belongs to narcotics, what are you up to?”

“Daeun’s case.” You starts, “Something seems off.”

“Y/n, you can’t compare the daughter of CEO Kim Shin Il with those druggies!”

“Captain–”, you insist, pulling the files for comparison, “Most injuries match and the disposal location as well and the prostitutes aren’t the only ones–”, he interrupts you in a hurry

“Forget this”, he snaps and starts closing the files, putting them in a pile, “I’m retiring, and _you_ will be promoted soon, we don’t need to stir shit up, Y/n”, he leaves only the CEO’s daughter file open on top of the others and taps the photo of the girl’s ID attached to he files, “After lunch we’ll have the warrant for her boyfriend’s house. It’ll be over before you know it”

“But, Captain! Something is definitely wrong here”, you try dissuading him and pulls out Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend mugshot, “I doesn’t make sense!” You hand him the paper, tapping it energetically as you speak on, “How can a narcissistic girl like Da Eun date a penniless man who walks around like a homeless–”, he interrupts you

“How would _I_ know? It could be another trend, who knows?”

“Captain, do you _really_ believe that?” You defy him, staring into his eyes with your hands on your waist and the two of you simply stare at each other for a moment, “Captain–”, you try again once both of you calm down, “I _know_ something’s off about this.”

“Y/n-ah~”, he calls your attention in a rather affectionate way that comes out as bothersome, “I told you before. You can’t solve every case trusting your guts”, he insists, “Sometimes it doesn’t work and when that happens–”, he sighs

He steps closer, placing his hands on your shoulders, shaking you a little, but still looking in your eyes.

“Y/n! Don’t do this”, he warns you, “Think about Minjoo~, huh?” He tries in a dissuading tone and pats your shoulders before letting go of you, “Let’s go eat something, it’s my treat”

It’s not that you don’t understand his mindset. You _want_ this to be that simple, you want it to be just a simple case of an abusive boyfriend jealousy as much as your Captain. This way the case you would be off your hands and you could move on to the next one on the pile resting on the other side of your table.

There isn’t much time left for your Captain’s retirement and your promotion to take his place and both of you are excited for this for different reasons. He has his business planned to stay alongside his family and enjoy his supposed old age papering his grandkids. As a side effect of being taken under your captain’s wings is knowing his family very closely as if you’re part of it, Seungho is his eldest grandkid, only a year older than Minjoo and they go to the same daycare, you’re friends with his mother, your captain’s oldest daughter.

So, yeah, you know everything you need to about him wanting to settle down and he knows all your reasons too. Keeping a low profile is a must in such a crucial moment in this career, but you just _can’t_ look away from what’s in front of you, not when you have such a golden chance in your hands to make this work not just for the CEO’s daughter, but for the others too.

*** 

Your phone buzzes on your desk and the screen displays Hakyeon’s ID along with his picture, one that has him holding Minjoo during her last birthday party, and although the sound is subdued in the noisy room you’re not completely alienated to it, however you decide to ignore it, focusing on the files you have in hand, instead. Trying to connect the dots, because _you know_ something off about this case, you know there must be a connection somewhere and if there is, you better find it fast before it’s too late to do anything about it.

“Lieutenant?” You look up to see Wonshik waiting for you expectantly by your desk, “They got Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend. They’re taking him to the interrogation room right now”, he pants

You jump on your feet and make sure to lock the files you’ve been reading in the lowest drawer on your desk before scooping your phone from your desk and walking hurried steps with Wonshik by your side.

“Who’s with him?”

“Detective Park”, he speaks respectfully

“Jinyoung?”

“Yes”, he nods

“Good”, you mutter more to yourself, then to him, “Did he say anything?”

“Aside from pleading innocence? No, sir.”

“Of course.”

He follows you into the room next to the interrogation room where some of the other detectives are gathered along with the Captain.

“How is it going?” You ask, moving to stand right in front of the two way mirror

“They gave us an alibi”, you Captain speaks, “We’re checking on it”, he adds with eyes glued on the scene unfolding behind the two-way mirror

_“Brand named clothes and shoes. Limited edition, artesanal wrist watch…”_ , Jinyoung clicks his tongue, _“You certainly is a high maintenance man”_

_“Why? Jealous?”_ , Jongup provokes, _“I heard a cop’s pay off is real shit”_ , he adds, squinting his nose in disgust

_“Still better than being a prostitute”_

_“Wow-wow-wow! Where did_ that _came from?”_

_“Well, let me see–”,_ Jinyoung starts sarcastically, leaning back on his chair with arms crossed over his chest, _“You’re unemployed and a complete nobody that ran errands for a low-life thug a few weeks ago, then out of nowhere you meet Kim Da Eun. Rich girl with a powerful father. Then,_ suddenly, _you move to a better apartment and starts dressing like a well-bred bastard, except–”,_ this time Jinyoung’s the one who squints in disgust, _“You have a horrible taste”_

_“I’m not a prostitute! What the fuck?”_ , Jongup replies outraged, _“I’m a personal assistant, ‘lright?”_

Jinyoung scoffs much like you on the other side of that mirror, most of the other detectives shake their heads in incredulity.

“Yeah, sure”, you hear someone say, somewhere behind you

_“A personal assistant? You?”_ , Jongup nods insistently

Jinyoung keeps his eyes on Jongup as he opens the file on the table and only looks down to read.

_“Moon Jong Up. 23 years old. Barely concluded middle school in a countryside town, the middle of nowhere–”,_ Jinyoung nudges the file away and looks up again, _“How are you a personal assistant for people like Kim Da Eun and her friends?”_

_“I’m very good at what I do”,_ Jongup smirks with a careless shrug

_“Two people testified that you were Kim Da Eun’s boyfriend, Jongup. Now–”,_ Jinyoung leans forward again, with his elbows on the table, _“You can’t blame me for assuming you’re a prostitute. It’s the best case scenario for you to date a girl like her, even though we both know she could do much better. We understand her friends didn’t want to taint her memory by saying that, but still–”_

_“Alright, man. Just– stop right there”_ , Jongup asks in annoyed, raising both hands before dropping them loudly on his lap, _“I wasn’t_ dating _her or anything. She was a spoiled, manipulative, annoying bitch. Not exactly my type of fuck, no”_

_“Then why were you have pointing fingers saying that you were her boyfriend”_

Jongup sighs in exasperation, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

_“The fuck should_ I _know? All I do is fixing parties for these crazy rich kids, man”_

_“Then, how come Kim Da Eun spent three days in your apartment?”,_ Jinyoung doesn’t lose a beat and Jongup takes a deep breathe, tonguing the teeth at the back of his mouth and rolling his head with eyes closed.

There’s a silent in the room and Jinyoung nudges his chair closer to the table in between them and smacks his hand very loudly on top of the files, regaining Jongup’s attention in a instant.

_“_ Hey! _”_ , Jinyoung speaks on the top of his lungs and Jongup stares at him, but it’s obvious he wants to look away, _“You’re about to be charged with_ murder. _”,_ Jongup looks away, _“Look at me!”_

“He definitely knows something”, your captain speaks up

“C’mon.”, you mutter more to yourself than to anyone else in the room, “C’mon, speak up.”

There’s a silence in the room for a moment. Jinyoung watches the Jongup very closely, while Jongup looks everywhere but Jinyoung.

_“Jongup”,_ Jinyoung calls, _“Why did you murdered Kim Da Eun?”_

_“What the–”,_ Jongup protests comes out as a groan, _“I didn’t murder_ anyone! _”_

Jinyoung starts talking again, but your attention is robbed by Wonshik, who walks in and hands you a file. You scan the file, reading the report as fast as you can before handing over to you Captain. Dong Il reads and curses under his breath.

“His alibi checks out”, you say in deception before speaking into the microphone, to Jinyoung, “Come over”

Jinyoung leaves Jongup alone in the room with a threatening remark and meets you with the rest of the team inside the two-way mirror room.

“What is it?” He asks as soon as he steps in.

“His alibi checks out”, you repeat and your captain pushes the file on Jinyoung’s chest while you lean on the table behind you with your arms crossed over your chest in annoyance.

“We confirmed he was arrested two days ago for fighting a VVIP member of the Lotus nightclub.”

“How did he got in a place like that?” Jinyoung asks in annoyance

“Even if he worked for Golden Tiger himself he’d need a high status in the syndicate to get in that club”, you comment

“He was a guest for a private party”, the detective makes a pause, “For Kim Da Eun”

“Apparently Jongup and the other guy was hurt pretty bad. They all went to the hospital, Kim Da Eun too. Kim Da Eun and her friend pressed charges against Jongup”, Wonshik explains, “They left and not too long after he was taken into custody by the Department of Organized Crimes, he stayed with them for two days”

“So, we’re back to square one?” Jinyoung asks

“This Kim Da Eun’s friend is the son of one of Kim Shin Il’s associates. I’ll call the judge, he won’t show up unless we summon him”, you add, “Go back there and try to find something about this other guy and that fight. If he didn’t mention anything about it, then he’s definitely hiding something”

Jinyoung motions his head before leaving the room and you watch him start the interrogation again before leaving the room with your phone in hand. You don’t notice your Captain following you.

“I’m relieved”, he speaks up with a smile and you raise your eyebrows in confusion, “The next Captain is competent”

He doesn’t wait for you to say anything, just walks away. Whistling his favorite tune with his hands in his pockets and it’s only when he’s quite far that you let it sink in and smiles to yourself at the thought before going back to what you were doing.

It takes some talk and some convincing, but once you get the okay from the judge, you go back to the room, to watch the interrogation.

_“We confirmed it was your blood on Kim Da Eun’s hands… literally. So, I’m pretty sure we can hold you here”,_ Jinyoung states

“Are you _fucking kidding me?_ ”, Jongup protests, “ _I already told you!_ ”, he speaks loud in frustration looking at Jinyoung, before looking at you, _“There was a fight at the club, I got hurt and she got…_ dirty _. That crazy bitch”_

He whispers the last part to himself and abruptly stands up to lift his shirt up his torso to show the cut, the blood on the wound soaking the bandages.

“ _Sit down!_ ” Jinyoung commands, stepping further into the room and slamming the file on the table, but he stays standing up

_“You see this?”_ Jongup points at the wound, _“It was two days ago and it’s bleeding again because you people keep assaulting me”_

_“You’re the one getting worked up”_ , Jinyoung clarifies in a low, threatening tone, _“Now, sit. Down.”_

If it was either Jinyoung’s piercing glare or the way he spoke in a yet darker tone, hissing the words with jaw tightened that made Jongup swallow hard and obey, you don’t know. But it works quite a lot.

_“I was in jail! I was in a cell for almost two days”_ , he starts again, more quiet this time

_“We already know that part. Tell why you fought with that other guy”,_ Jinyoung presses and Jongup goes silent again, _“Are you scared of losing your sponsor or something?”_

_“Look. You don’t mess with people like_ him, _okay?”_

_“Why? Why is so scary about him? Huh?”,_ Jinyoung smiles, leaning further on the table and closer Jongup, _“I’ll make this clear. We won’t have nothing to hold against you if you just say what you know about this guy”_

Jinyoung slides a printed screencap from a CCTV from the file, towards Jongup. Keeping his eyes locked with the other’s.

_“Just tell me what you know about the guy and we can let you go”_

Jongup hesitates before looking at the photo other table, his eyes shift between the photo and Jinyoung. He presses his lips and looks away, lost in thoughts for a moment.

_“I’m–”,_ Jongup hesitates, _“I’m not saying he killed her, ‘lright?”,_ the fear and hesitation is more than clear as he speaks, stealing glances at Jinyoung

_“Why? Do you think he could murder Kim Da Eun?”_

_“I don’t know, man…”_

_“Hey, Moon Jongup!”_ Jinyoung calls, loud and clear, _“Look at me. Speak clearly.”,_ he commands

Jongup does as he’s told. When he starts speaking again he’s still hesitating and biting down on his lips, but at least he’s looking back at Jinyoung.

_“All I know is that he’s a twisted bastard”,_ Jongup speaks up, _“Mr. Kim wanted his daughter to date this dude, but Da Eun came to me–”_

_“To you?”_ Jinyoung asked skeptically

_“All I know is that she wanted someone to protect her from this crazy-ass dude. She was scared of him”_

_“Did she tell you why?”_ Jongup hesitates to answer, “Jongup!”

_“I told you, he’s crazy”_ , Jongup halts

_“How?”_

_“He’s a controlling freak. A total psycho, I’m telling you”_

Sometimes comes to your mind and you reach for the microphone again.

“Jinyoung, ask if Kim Da Eun was being abused by her boyfriend”, there a pause while you stand back and Jinyoung asks

_“You bet. Just ask anyone, if you make sure he won’t do anything to them, they might speak up too. Or just check on his ex-girlfriend.”_

_“So why did Kim Da Eun choose you?”_

_“Because she knows I’m good at what I do”_

_“You were a low-life thug.”_

_“Exactly–”,_ Jongup motions his head with a shrug, _“I’m good at what I do”,_ he repeats himself

_“Then, what happened?”_ Jinyoung presses in urgency

_“The guy is like a vicious dog”,_ Jongup stresses clearly, tapping his index finger on the table to make the gravity of his words worth, _“He came to the club and tried to take her away, calling her all kinds of stuff, trying to drag her away– He was high on something. I tried protecting her–my job, remember? But the crazy son of a bitch cut me open with a fucking broken bottle”_

_“You said he was high–”,_ Jinyoung insists, _“Is he addicted to any illicit drug?”_

Jongup scoffs. _“Why? Do I get extra points if I answer that one?”_

“It doesn’t matter. We have what we need to get the playboy over”, you say out loud to the others, “Wonshik, go check on the summon the judge is supposed to send. I’ll be on my desk.”

This is heading down the same path, only now the person to have fingers pointed at is different. You know quite well, how this might end, but you can’t take those files locked in a drawer out of your head. You know there’s something about it that connects everything.


	3. Alibi

The next morning you walk in the station with your backpack hanging from one of your shoulders, you let yourself fall on your seat and chuckle at the image of Jinyoung sleeping soundly despite the odd and very uncomfortable position on his desk. His head falls sideways on his chair and his feet.

Wonshik walk in, almost dressed up nice and tidy, proud of his uniform, carrying a tray of coffee and some delivered food over to somewhere else.

“Good morning, Lieutenant”, he greets you, bowing his head slightly as he passes by you.

“Morning”, you greet him back, kicking your backpack under your desk, “Gimme some of this coffee”

Wonshik stops by your desk, setting down a plastic cup before pouring coffee in it.

“Another one for the sleepyhead over there”, Wonshik pours the coffee and you add the sugar and cream you know Jinyoung usually adds, “Thanks”

Wonshik goes on his way while you lean over your desk to throw a heavy file on Jinyoung’s table, making him awake, startled.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty!” You laugh as he presses his closed eyelids with his fingers and rubs them, trying to get rid of the tiredness, while tries his best to sit up straight without complaining about the pain.

“Why didn’t you sleep upstairs?” You ask, standing up to place his coffee on his desk.

“We spent the night interrogating the playboy. What time is it?” He asks, still confused and flustered. You look at your watch.

“07AM”

Jinyoung sighs and let his head fall back. “That prick is useless, really.”

“Why?”

“He won’t say anything. Because he doesn’t seem to know, but the forensic team found something”, he says sitting up straight again and reaching for a file to hand over to you when you get it from his hand he goes for his coffee.

Jinyoung sips on the coffee as you read the file.

“What is this crap? Drug-induced amnesia?” You look up in disbelief at Jinyoung sipping on his hot coffee, “Is this real thing?”

“Hmm.” Jinyoung nods, swallowing the hot coffee, “Very much. Apparently the playboy has been playing hard with his options and recently he’s been consulting a countryside traditional doctor that makes herbal tea and traditional medicine. The forensic has a sample we found in his room, they’ll send the results when it’s ready. The bastards get to sleep and still complain about it”, Jinyoung mutters the last phrase in a moody tone as he drinks more of his coffee, “Ah~ I’m hungry now”

“That’s  _ great. _ Where did we get this from?” You ask trying to read the unrecognizable words in latin or whatever puzzling language that’s written along with the ones you  _ do  _ understand.

“It came from the hospital he was admitted to after the fight with Jongup”, Jinyoung sips on his coffee as he rolls his chair to sit closer to you despite the divide between the desks, “His doctor confessed. There was more than just his usual intake of his usual drugs, including one that’d be most possibly curated by only with a special  _ twist  _ to it _. _ ”

You sigh tiredly, edging yourself on your seat. “This could invalidate his signed confession.”

Jinyoung manners his head and shrugs. Then, pauses to look at you closely.

“Lieutenant, you seem to be enjoying this~”

“You’re seeing way too much into it, Detective Park.”

Jinyoung hums to himself with a crooked smile and pushes himself away from your desk.

“I wouldn’t be so happy about it, Lieutenant”, Jinyoung says, knowing your mind has already went back to the possibility of re-investigating the case, assimilating as a serial killing case, “The media is on this like vultures and… I heard the Head Prosecutor wants to wrap this up as soon as possible.”

You throw the closed file on the table at the mention of your still father-in-law, knowing how much of a headstrong the man is. It would take more than your stubbornness to turn this around if the man has his hands on this case.

“If you’re right, it’ll happen again and they won’t be able to blame the playboy again. If we get it before narcotics-” You cut Jinyoung, moving on your seat, feeling unsettled.

“I wish we wouldn’t need another dead body for them to take this seriously. Whoever the killer is escalated from homeless women, to prostitutes, to random girls and people kept sweeping it all under the carpet. Now, with Kim Da Eun’s case-”, you sigh in frustration, pushing your hair back, “Do they just expect a maniac like this to just…  _ Stop? _ ” You chuckle bitterly to yourself, “Head Prosecutor Cha has his head up his ass that might just be true.”

Jinyoung fails at hiding his amusement when you curse your father-in-law.

“I’ll just- You know, pretend I didn’t hear that.” He says, tapping his ears lightly with his first and middle fingers and stops when he stands up and walks backwards from you, “I’ll go grab some breakfast for him, okay? Anything for you, Lieutenant?”

“Egg toast, no bacon. And tomato juice”, Jinyoung nods in response.

As he turns around to leave almost bumps into none other than your Captain, Sung Dong Il, storming into the station. Jinyoung’s unapologetic pushed away by your Captain and turns around with his eyes open wide, brows furrowed in confusion. Not only you, but everyone else in the station watches as the Captain marches in wearing the official uniform. Jinyoung glances at you, trying to figure something out, bt you seem as lost as everyone else.

“Maskot!” You Captain’s outburst makes Wonshik shot up from his seat in alert.

“Yes, Captain!”

“Prepare the conference room. Be fast!”

“Yes, sir.” Wonshik salutes and rushes to do as he’s been told.

“Park Jinyoung!”

Jinyoung points at himself.

“Me?” That makes Dong Il stop throw a glare at him.

“Who else? Get these ready for the conference,” Dongil stops and comes closer to Jinyoung, speaking more quietly. “No one can take a peek, you understand?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Good.” The man nods, unbottoming his uniform suit, “You’ll be in charge to hold the conference until it’s ready to start. Don’t curse.”

“I wouldn’t.” Dongi snorts at the detective protest before turning to you.

“What?” You ask, annoyed before he can say anything.

“My office. Now.”

He storms off to his office and you follow him with your eyes, before grunting lazily to stand up.

“What’s his problem?” You complain.

“Ah!~ Seriously, working in this department is really stressful!” One of the detectives sitting close to you complains, “Our superiors are always having mood swings. I want to retire.”

“At 35?” You ask the man complaining as he messes up his hair, “Are you crazy?”

“I bet my salary this is about that spidey senses our Lieutenant has.” Jaehwan’s voice is not so subtle as he speaks.

“Hey, I can hear you, asshat!” You throw a pen in his direction without much effort.

“Sorry, Lieutenant.” He sends you an empty apology.

“Don’t you have a goose chase to attend to?” You mock him, recalling his current case.

“Yea, yea… Mock me all you want, Lieutenant. But, when I drag Bang Yongguk in this station with my own hands  _ you’ll be the one to pay for the celebratory dinner! _ ”

“Oh-ho~ Is that so? Really.” You hold back a chuckle, standing up and making your way to the Captain’s office, “Make sure to not bite your own tail in the process, Detective Lee.”

You warn as he clicks his tongue, watching you push the Captain’s door open and disappears inside the office. Jaehwan looks at Jinyoung who’s staring at you through the wall-sized glass window, the blinds are pulled down, but open and the people in the office can only see partially - including Jinyoung. No one can hear anything, but Dongil’s raged expression when he looks up to you worries Jinyoung, although he knows it shouldn’t it’s something that can’t be helped.

“There goes your promotion.” He holds back when Jaehwan startles him with his voice maliciously speaking closer than he thought the other detective is. He looks at the other and plays it out with a scoff.

“What does that come from?” Jinyoung asks, making an effort to turn his back as the Captain drawns the blinds closed and you throw yourself on the sofa carelessly.

“You know what,” the other says with a crooked smile, standing on the way of a very busy Wonshik and leaning an arm the younger shoulder, “the Captain retires, our Lieutenant takes his place and there you are. Perfect scenario. Am I right, maskot?”

“Don’t be jealous. It doesn’t match your personality.” Jinyoung provokes as both man part ways, not really being in the mood to talk much more than that.

“Is it truth?” Wonshik asks in curiosity and one of Jaehwan’s brow perks up to look at the department's youngest member.

“What?”

“That Detective Park will be promoted along Captain Sung retirement and the Lieutenant take over”, Wonshik asks innocently and that makes Jaehwan laughs enjoyably.

“You really don’t know anything. Do you?”

Jaehwan laughs, but stops as soon as he sees Wonshik’s eyes brimming with curiosity, he stops walking and grabs the younger to do the same, holding the other in place, he waits for some passerby disappear, until both of them are alone.

“Listen here,” he starts, “Since you’ve been here for a while you gotta make up your mind to whom you want to be loyal to,” Jaehwan explains, “Most people stick to the partnership. So, I’m gonna tell you this… Park Jinyoung isn’t eligible to take any major role, he’ll never move a step from where he is right now. Like our Captain, his name is tainted.”

***

“Close the fucking door!” The Captain as soon as you step one foot into the office. His anger vividly expressed, “I should’ve been against the Commander as soon as he pulled  _ you  _ in this case of all people. I could’ve pulled you out as soon as I saw things going smoothly. I’m no good for this job anymore, because of  _ you,  _ you know? All because of you!” Dongil let out his rent standing behind his desk while you stared at him with your puzzled expression.

“I have- absolutely  _ no idea _ what-” You try saying with a shrug and your hands shoved inside the front pockets of your pants.

“Sure you don’t.”

Dongil interrupts and takes large, angry steps to the wall-sized window, reaching to close the blinds. He saw Jinyoung with his eyes fixated on you. Your Captain never said and would never say anything regarding this. Not one bit, but it never meant that he was oblivious. His eyes travels back to you when the blinds are tightly closed, he found you sitting on your typical spot in his office, looking comfortable as you are, at home as you feel.

“Then, what?” You ask, out of patience.

Dongil should know being angry wouldn’t have any effect on, you’re never scared of anything. Never was. This got you here, but could ruin you as well. He would be damned if this wasn’t, at least, one of the reasons why your marriage is - in his opinion - so regrettably over. The old man pleaded to heaven it would work while knowing all the reasons it wouldn’t, you and Cha Hakyeon… Anyone could see the end, but you’re always defiant and Hakyeon found his change to rebel in you, for a good reason. At first Dongil thought it was just a rich guys rebeling to his rich, powerful parents, but Hakyeon loves you, he saw enough to know.

“I don’t know if I should congratulate you or have you take a few days off duty. You need to sort out your life now, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Dongil sees your eyes darkening, your rather carefree manner vanishing as you hear his words.

“I told you before-,” he starts again, sitting apart from you, grunting as he settles his old bones on the comfortable armchair, “You can’t solve every case trusting your guts, but this time… This time I’ll bet everything I have in your spidey senses, Y/n”, he says fondly.

“What are you talking about”

“The playboy’s confession doesn’t add up to his toxicology test. He’ll only be arrested for drug use and smuggling,” he explains, “The only lead we’ve got is with your theory and you better be right. You’ll hold the presentation. The Commander will be here at the afternoon?”

“Sure”, you sort, self-assertive.

“The Commander isn’t happy and he’s coming down to announce the outcome to the media, we’ll also be starting a new investigative team. I’m putting you in charge, so make sure you have the people you trust around you because the man is sending one of his lap dogs to spy on everything”

“Who?”

“I don’t know yet,  _ but _ \- It’s clear they don’t like you. Don’t disappointment me.” 

“I won’t.”

He sighs. And there’s a pause when all the tension kind of dissipates and you can tell the old man is just tired of it all.

“Y/n, I want you to listen carefully now, okay?” You nod yet again and he it’s not the kind of response Dongil wants. “I won’t speak as your captain now, but as an old friend,” he makes another pause, leaning forward, looking in your eyes, “I’m not saying this because of me or you promotion or anything,” he starts, “But, particularly, I think it’s quite odd the Head Prosecutor Cha let go of this so easily knwoing  _ you _ would be the only to lead the serial murder case-”

“Now, I’m the one asking you to trust me,  _ sunbae. _ ” You speak up, looking directly in his eyes, “I know what I have to do.” Dongil sighs and hangs his head low.

“All right. Just- be careful.”

***

It doesn’t matter how confident you look, you’re skin twitches when you think about it. Taking this case means a lot more than it did before, losing it means losing  _ everything _ . Beads of sweat form on the line of your hair, the room is suddenly too confining and overall hot.

_ ‘Minjoo. I’m sorry’ _ \- you think to yourself, but you can’t find it in yourself to feel regret or pained about it. You know what you have to do and you won’t step back. You blindly get to your desk and start to gather the folders, everything you need to make the presentation for the Commander and his lap dog when they’re here. Well, the other team members will be there too. You’ll need help from someone from Narcotics, maybe Taecyeon, an old friend, come over to lend a pair hands to the team.

Jinyoung, Jaehwan, Taecyeon, the maskot, Detective Jung, Doctor Lee from forensic and his assistant… Those were the first names in your list. Who else? People you trust. You paused and looked around the troubled station now that something big was about to happen everyone was in an uproar.

“Jinyoung!” You call as soon as he walks in and he makes his way to you immediately, “That breakfast- How about now?”

You start walking away and Jinyoung leaves his current task at his desk before yanking his jacket out of his chair in quick, swift motions to follow you, without so much as a second thought.


	4. Family Matters

Jinyoung follows without a single word until the two of you are on the outside, in the parking lot.

“Lieutenant. Wh-”

“I feel like eating something better than that egg toast and tomato juice, right now.” You cut him off, walking to your car, Jinyoung hops in the passenger seat as soon as the door’s unlocked.

You drive both of you out of the station’s grounds. Jinyoung glances at you, but doesn’t say a word until you stop at a familiar restaurant. The two of you used to come here all the time when the two of you were partners and the owner seems to remember because despite the place being obviously closed, she greets the two of you with a huge smile.

“Lieutenant Song!” The woman greets, “Detective Park! It’s been a while~ We don’t have much ready right now.”

“It’s alright, Mrs. Lee. Just give us anything you have. We’ve been craving your food lately.” You say with a smile and she nods.

“Okay, okay.” She walks away as the two of you settles at a familiar spot.

Jinyoung watches you looking down at your hands on the table and he ponders about what could possibly be troubling you. You don’t say anything, so he doesn’t either. He just watches you fidgeting with your phone for a while, the restaurant’s owner brings water to the two of you.

“Would you like some soju?” He asks with a suggestive smile.

“No, we’re still on the clock. Just food and maybe some soda.” Jinyoung replies.

“Same here” You reply and the lady walks away again, “You don’t mind if I smoke here, do you?”

“Ah, why would I? There’s no one else around. Just do as you like, Lieutenant.”

You offer her a small smile as you pull out a cigarette.

“Thanks.”

She walks away and you take a moment to light your cigarette and take a light drag from it before speaking.

“This is something that will come out later, but for now- It’s just between the two of us.” You start, blowing the smoke as you speak before settling your cigarette down carefully, “Jinyoung-ah, sorry. I need to ask too much of you again” Jinyoung frowns at your words.

You mention to pour water for the both of you, but Jinyoung takes the jar from you as you start talking.

“First of all, about Kim Da Eun’s case-”, you watch as Jinyoung starts pouring water for himself, “There’s still a lot missing. There’s a lot we couldn’t find,” you hold up your pinky finger and starts counting from then on, “The crime weapon, the location the murder happened, we couldn’t trace the exact route, the stolen car’s blackbox is who-knows-where~,”dropping the hand you’ve been counting with and let it fall on the table with a loud  _ thud _ , you tilt your head and go on speaking, “And yet, _ yet  _ everyone’s convinced the case is closed because a dumb-ass playboy is just doing whatever we ask and we don’t even know why his oh-so-powerful parents aren’t doing anything for the boy.”

“But didn’t that playboy sign the confession?”

“The Commander got the toxicology test. Our Captain came back with amazing news and even though I don’t know how things played out-”, you chuckle bitterly, “Turns out, because of the test, the playboy’s confession can’t hold up in court.”

“I thought that drug-induced amnesia  _ thing _ wasn’t all that relevant since his memory goes back and forth. He said there were some things he could remember and he wrote down with his lawyer instructions. ”

You click your tongue. “It’s all  _ my fault.  _ I said this could happen, I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

“Whoa~” Jinyoung scoffs, mocking surprise as he leans back on his seat with an amused smile, crossing his arms over his chest, “ You’re finally admitting to it. Good. It’d be good if from now on our Lieutenant became aware of things such as this.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun with this. But-,”you start again, picking up your cigarette and taking a drag, “Don’t you think it’s  _ strange _ , at the very least?” You make a small pause and Jinyoung watches as you lean over the table, “The whole division knows why the Commander who hates me personally assigned me to take care of Kim Da Eun’s case, uhm?”

Jinyoung nods, listening quietly.

“I’m a woman and I have a good enough reputation to go by. It’d look good to the media when they came to fetch for info about the case. But- as the case went on my honorable father-in-law, Head Prosecutor Cha approached the case as well. He’s been overlooking and trying to close the case nice and smooth and you know how stubborn the old man Cha is.”

“So?” Jinyoung speaks up after a while, “What did he pick up on?”

You took another drag and dropped the bud in the water Jinyoung poured for you a moment earlier. Jinyoung watches as the bud sinks.

“Me.”

You blow the smoke as sees his eyes flicker towards you, then you hiss with amusement.

“I’m his favorite chewing toy, afterall.”

Jinyoung gulps down, takes a deep breath and leans in, propping his elbows on the plastic table. He starts, then drags his lower lip with his tongue. Jinyoung takes a short breath as if he’s about to speak while you reach for another cup on the next table as you watch the lady bring in the food. When you smile almost welcomingly at the lady walking towards your table, pushing a cart of food, you lean back and Jinyoung does the same.

“Ah~ I’m sorry. I really only have these things for now.” She says apolegic, “Next time it’ll be my treat.” She adds on as she sets the table for the two of you.

“Don’t worry about it,” you reassure her with a smile, “It’s our fault for coming in such an inappropriate time. ”

“Your food is always the best, that’s why.” Jinyoung adds.

“Then, eat well and if you need anything else, let me know.” She says as you and Jinyoung helps her settle the food on the table.

“Uhm, you can go on. Don’t worry about us.” Jinyoung replies.

With a small bow of her head, she leaves as you take your bowl of food and adds a few side dishes before starting eating.

“So?” Jinyoung starts again as you eat and he finishes setting the table, you haven’t had a nice breakfast this morning, now you’re trying to make up for it, “Is this about Minjoo’s custody?”

You chuckle and manner your head with a slight tilt. Since your mouth is full all you do and lean back and chew, nodding back at Jinyoung. He nods back, understanding. You place the back of your hand in front of your mouth to speak around the food.

“I think the Commander would be glad if I didn’t make to be the next Captain too.”

“Yeah”, Jinyoung says quietly when he finishes setting the table, “But-”, with his hand, slightly open on both sides of his bowl, “What can I do?”

You sigh heavily and drops your chopsticks carelessly on the table before speaking, after swallowing the food.

“You’re the only person I can trust.” You confess solemnly, “This case isn’t what they want to make out to be-” You speak in a somber tone, “Not for the public or even when we’re all locked inside that conference room for the secret briefing. Both of us can be burned down by this.”

“What’s this?” Jingyoung scoffs. “Are you giving me warning? Since when?”

“Jinyoung. You’d lose everything.”

***

“Wonshik! Can’t you be faster at this?” One of the detectives complains while Wonshik irons the official uniform carefully as fast as he can

Whatever answer Wonshik would give is cut when you barge in the room with the men dressing themselves as fast as they can without ruining the clothes.

“Where’s my suit?”

“Here”, someone handles for you to take.

“Be fast! The Commander’s on the way.” You say before leaving.

“Did you hear that?” The same detective says towards Wonshik as the door slams behind you.

You rush through the hall, still wearing your suit and buttoning up before reaching your desk for something to tie your hair up with, but all you can find is one of Minjoo’s pink hair ties and you sigh, staring at it, before tying up your hair.

“Your tie looks weird, Lieutenant~”, one of the detectives notices as he passes by in rush.

“You guys have a mirror in your room and I don’t. What do you expect~?” You complain in return and hear him laugh.

“Lieutenant Song?”

“What now?” You ask annoyed, turning to see your Captain calling you standing by the open door of his office.

“Quick!” So, you take long strives towards him and with the corner of your eyes you see the Commander inside his office, you hiss at Dongil, “Be polite.” He whispers to you.

You walk in his office, fixing your tie. Although you quite dislike it the tightness of it and it’s worse when you go in and notice the Head Prosecutor is there as well as another person who’s wearing the same uniform as you, another Lieutenant you don’t recognize.

Saying that you don’t like the scene is being overly polite, but you settled with this description for the time being, to avoid your mind running wild what would cause your mouth and actions following the same direction. Which is never a good thing in this position.

The old man Cha doesn’t even look at you. You step in and your Captain lets the door close behind you as he walks to take his seat among the hot-shot picture in front of you. He looks as uncomfortable as you.

_ ‘Good’ -  _ you think and he seems to catch that glint in your eyes as you stand tall to salute the Commander.

“We should get the basics out of the way first”, the Commander speaks as if it’d be a bothersome tasks after dismissing your salute shifting more comfortably on his seat, “Lieutenant Song Y/n, this is Lieutenant Lee Hongbin.”

_ ‘His loyal lap dog, as I said’  _ \- you could read Captain Dong Il’s comment the moment your eyes met him for a fleeting moment. Dong Il could probably see the understanding in your eyes then as well.

The other Lieutenant bows his head as a greeting and you do the same before meeting halfway for a handshake.

“Take a seat.”, the Commander orders and the two of you do as he says. You can’t help but feel like being under the microscope.

If you were to go crazy at that moment, you just wish you could beat up three of the four people sitting in front of you.

_ ‘Minjoo-yah~’,  _ you call out in your mind as you take your designated seat beside the other Lieutenant,  _ ‘Do you even know how much mommy loves you?’ _

***

“Hey, hey! We have to start~”, you can hear Jinyoung impatience in his voice as he asks the media to calm down, “Stop making questions, they’ll be answered when the conference starts. Please, refrain from-”, a reporter asks  _ louder _ a question, as if it’d make any difference.

You walk in with the quartet. As soon as the first person on the back, part of the watching public sees and makes sure everyone else does as well, things only goes worse and Jinyoung’s can easily lose all he’s been holding on to. But Captain Dong Il throws him a glare as the group walk to the stage set for the conference outside the station.

“Alright, alright. We’ll start now, I’d like your cooperation”, Jinyoung says when everyone is settled, “Please, stay quiet as the Captain of Division of Violent Crimes, Sung Dong Il, speaks, please.”

You hear Dong Il clearing his throat as he stands up, you can tell he’s recollecting words he wrote down earlier. You sit up straight with cameras panning over you once in a while, flashes blinding you for a second or so. Bothersome. All you have to do is be quiet and let this happen, but-

“It’d be much better if you wouldn’t cause this commotion, Commander.” You provoke despite the respectful tone.

“A poor, innocent girl died. We should give her life the meaning it deserves.” He replies sarcastically while standing up to speak to the public and you clap along with everyone else while he approaches the stand.

“Lieutenant Song?” You hear your father-in-law’s voice and tightens your jaw, “You should be respectful to your superiors.”

The man is always telling you what to do. You wait for your own turn to speak, sending out heartful words that aren’t a lie, but are far from the truth.  _ ‘As our Commander said, we have good leads as to who the culprit is. However, for the sake of the investigation we’ll keep it as a secret for now,’  _ \- you said and even to your ears sounded like bullshit, the reporter asked if this wouldn’t drive the killer away. You kept on with the speech written at the Captain’s office briefing.

_ ‘Actually,’ - _ you started slowly, then  _ ‘knowing the profile of our culprit we’re waiting for this person to turn themselves in,’  _ \- you lied -  _ ‘We know this person cared for the victim’s safety and health so much so this person fought our last suspect to keep her safe. Ah! We’re not defending the killer, we just want this person to understand we know this much and we’re willing to listen,’ - _ you added shamelessly,  _ ‘Kim Da Eun’s family wants nothing but to put their precious daughter to rest and this is only possible if this case is dutifully closed.’ _

You step away and Jinyoung finishes the conference a moment later as you and the quartet leave the scene. Although the public was dismissed, the media insisted and some barged in the station. The officers helps you and the high profile escape safely and unsee to where the so-called secret briefing is happening with the team you selected.

“So, you  _ can  _ do as you’re told,” Head Prosecutor Cha tells you when it’s only the five of you in a room, though his voice is low enough, so only you hears it.

“Your voice makes me sick,” you say casually as you pass by him.

Not too long after Jinyoung walks in the room.

“Good. We’re all here. We can start, sir.”

Your Captain walks to stand in front of the messy team, obviously tired and annoyed.

“Shut up, everybody. Our Chief Commander wants to speak with you.” Captain orders.

“I’m sure you all noticed you are a numbered group,” the Commander started, “This morning, after receiving the report of this case Head Prosecutor Cha and I came to an understanding. We couldn’t condemn the previous suspect when there was so much missing from the case.”

_ ‘People have been in jail for life for less than this,’ - _ you think to yourself as the man speaks and you can see the expression in the other detective’s faces. They might just be thinking the same.

“However, after discussing, we came to understand that our Lieutenant Song theory  _ might just be _ the right answer,” this obviously perks up interest from the others that has been close to this investigation, “Unfortunaly-,” the man makes a dramatic pause that  _ almost  _ gets you rolling your eyes, “We might be dealing with a serial murder. So, because of this-”

As he speaks, Jaehwan, leans to speak to you and you lean back to listen.

“How does he know about your serial murder theory?” He asks, rather lost.

“I guess I speak too loud.”

He leans back on this sit and you sit upright, noticing Lieutenant Lee Hongbin throwing you a watchful glance before pretending to look away. Your eyes meet Jinyoung’s then.

“This team has the blessings of Head Prosecutor Cha who’ll be dealing personally as much as he can, although it was decided that any decision will be held by the leader of this investigation. Lieutenant Song Y/n and as my own way to contribute I’m allowing Lieutenant Lee Hongbin from the Division of Organized Crimes-,” you can hear some detectives scoffing at this and whispering comments, the Captain throws you a glare.

“Shut it!” You warn half-heartedly, they do as told with the same attitude as you and watch Hongbin greet them accordingly.

“Lieutenant Song, why don’t you present your case to make it clear for all of us. Me and the Commander Chief believe in the gut feeling you’re known to use a lot, but we need more than this to sign off nice and tidly.” the Head Prosecutor speaks.

“Yes.” You push yourself off your chair with so much as an answer.

“We already lost too much time with all of this, so let’s get over with this, alright?”

You hear a collective and loud  _ ‘Yes’ _ from around the room, this gets the foreign trio to feel bothered and unable to hide their discomfort.

“These are the first victims, Jane Does from one and two”, you start the presentation with the victims photos passing by, their face and body disfigured has Wonshik look away and you see Jinyoung scolding him for it, “We don’t know where they from or who they were, all we know is how they lived and the persona they used in the life they had. All of them were prostitutes, the first three of them were well known in the red district, lots of people seemed-  _ upset _ , I’d say, by their disappearance.”

You tilt your head skeptically before continuing.

“They were controlled by the same drug lord, you guys oughta know him as Yamazaki, but, as a citizen, he’s known as Bang Yong Guk. I reckon Jaehwan- I mean, Detective Lee still has these files?”

“Yes!” He says, raising his hand. “This happened when he took over a large underground syndicate six years ago, right in the beginning.”

“Bring the files in when the briefing is over.”

“Yes,  _ sir _ ”

“Now, victims numbers three and four… They were under a low life, scaredy-cat pimp who ran out of the country as soon as we stepped on his porch. As for the rest, we don’t know even know who they worked for.”

With a click, you the pictures on the background enhance, focusing on the wounds and marks on the bodies.

“These cases were closed as a simple case of drug lords or pimps discarding their prostitutes as a way to set an example, but look closer and you’ll see the patterns-”

“Pimps tend to have a certain pattern when they’re disposing of their workers, Lieutenant Cha”, Hongbin speaks up and you look at him

“Yes, but different pimps means different patterns, Lieutenant Lee. Yamazaki’s known for keeping his way to educate his subordinates intact for years. Even when he was a low life thug. The torture and killing methods are well-known by the Organized Crime Department. Aren’t they?” You provoke.

“See, our Lieutenant is doing that again. As if things aren’t bad enough,” one of the detectives comments to another and earns a chuckle.

“If you look at these,” you point at the wounded bodies, “You’ll notice it doesn’t match anything they have on Yamazaki or any other crime organization we know of. It’s too elaborated for small organizations and doesn’t match of the well-known ones”

“How about the killings from that foreign organization that tried to get in the country? Wasn’t it around that time?”

You look for the right file and display the photos side by side before displaying them side by side with the victims you’re showing.

“I always tell my kids if they don’t have anything smart to say, not saying anything is always the best option”, one of the detectives seems to speak up accidently louder than he intended

You ignore the side-glares the detectives throw at Hongbin.

“Are you talking about those other victims, Lieutenant Lee? The difference are quite obvious”, you point aimlessly at the pictures and glance at them before looking at Hongbin, “The murderers from the foreigner hitman did torture their victims, but his methods are clean, simple and systematic as you can see. Enough to cause trauma at the victims, but very rarely draw more than a few drop of blood from them. All he did was motivated by money and he had no personal pleasure in what he did. However, the one we’re looking into is someone who’s the complete opposite.”

You go so far as comparing pictures and wounds of the bodies with the occurrences suggested to satisfy the foreign trio. The presentation takes more time than you originally intended.

“His method is bloody, messy, almost experimental for the most part. If you pay attention to the primary wounds and method of killing-,” the photos of the ghastly victims are back on full screen again, “You’ll see a pattern with them and it’s relatively easy to notice what seems to be less and less hesitation marks in each body. Something like a learning curve, Lieutenant Lee”.

Hongbin’s eyes are drawn back at you instantly and he just stares at you, without saying anything anymore as you speak in a more low and personal tone for him to hear although the others could to.

“That’s something that foreigner didn’t even need in the first place. He’s well trained, with years of knowledge and experience in what he did.” You don’t miss the glint in Hongbin’s eyes, not the way his lips crook upwards on one side, as if he’s  _ acknowledging  _ and dispising you at the same time.

The team that has been throwing salty glances at Hongbin, you know they all wish they could say something, but Hongbin is in a higher ranking and obviously has a powerful protection. It’d be stupidity and you’re thankful they’re clever enough to keep quiet about it. The plain screen is then overlapped by other ghastly murder photos. This time, they’re from the same victim

“Son Ji Yoon, 22 years old. Grad student. Found at an abandoned train station. Kim Jung Ah, 25 years old. Worked as secretary. Found four weeks after So Ji Yoon in a junkyard. Two weeks after there’s Ms. Han-”, the screen changes again, “A housewife, Mrs. Oh, 32 years old, was found a month fter in an abandoned warehouse”, you explain as the photos goes on over your shoulder, “Counting the first four victims, we have in total, seven victims. Kim Da Eun makes it eight.”

You make a pause as the horrid photos colors the screen behind you.

“The last three cases, including Kim Da Eun’s case, were all handled by different police departments and they have been solved the same way”, you explain, “All evidence found in less than 48 hours pointed to some man connected to the victim. Be it an older brother, boyfriend or husband-”

You walk out from behind your computer and paces back and forth in front of the group, speaking energetically.

“All men had previous, constant abusive behavior towards the victims. The women had an apparent perfect, normal life, but behind closed doors they were mistreated by these men and all of them were accused and condemned for being the culprit.” You make a small pause, “I guess that might give us something”

“So- You’re not only invalidating  _ Kim Da Eun’s  _ case with this. But all these seven cases as well? You want to re-open them?” Head Prosecutor Cha asks, comfortably sat on his chair, tapping his finger on the table.

You take a good look at the man daring you before replying.

“No, sir. You are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [@fictionalarsonist](fictionalarsonist.tumblr.com)


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